ABSTRACT
At the start of the twenty-first century, attention to the role of culture in social, political, and economic development became more prominent, especially from the perspective of ensuring the sustainability of these areas of human activity. While public awareness about the possibility to redefine culture from a position as “consumer of a society’s resources” into one of an “instigator of social inclusion and economic growth” has increased significantly, culture is much more than these instrumental roles. Importantly, culture is also “an expression of identity, power, and elaboration on relations that allow us to reach understanding with others” (Rogač Mijatović 2011, 331–340). In this chapter, from the perspective of contemporary Macedonian development processes, we investigate both how culture participates in and contributes to processes of sustainable development and how culture itself can be sustainable.
